And Action
by Fae 206
Summary: A Klaine AU with a happy ending/storyline. When designer and Parsons student, Kurt Hummel, is given the chance at a photo shoot for Vogue he knows this is a chance of a lifetime. Is Upper East side photographer and Columbia student, Blaine Anderson, the one to help him develop his vision and reach his dream. (Other characters include: Artie, Mercedes, and S2/S3 Tina)
1. Chapter 1

**AN: I never usually write AUs, but I need something to distract me from the actual show because it really is too horrible for the Klainers right now. **

**And Action**

Chapter One: The Photographer

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel _rarely_ got chances like this, he rarely felt he deserved them and ever since his brother, Finn's, passing he wasn't expecting anything….or he hadn't been expecting anything. Kurt Hummel had grown up in California, near LA if the location was ever important to anyone and he had always been interested in fashion. His deceased biological mother had been an alumnus of a fashion school down there and had put out a line of clothing and accessories that editorials had called Bohemian chic and the most beautiful wedding dresses. Unfortunately, Elizabeth Alexandria Hummel had died when Kurt was eight and though he remembered her, he was losing the memory of her voice.

She was his inspiration for his enrolling at Parsons and relocating to New York. During his time here he had managed to score a job at a place called 'The Spotlight Diner' where he had met the most wonderful singer and his best friend, one of the only two friends he had made in the city. Mercedes Jones dreamed of being a singer and a representative to young girls who felt bullied because of their beautiful bodies. She sang locally at different locations and Kurt could never resist going to a performance, well as long as he didn't have school, or his internship, or his job.

His other friend, Artie, he hadn't been close with growing up. They had attended the same school but often been in different groups. Kurt hadn't been in a group at all, always content with either reading or sketching fashion designs. He had attended the school's LGBTQ group a few times but considered it a huge joke. Artie was at a film school that was slightly less than an hour train ride away, but he had managed to score himself a job at Vogue in the advertising department.

Kurt felt jealous of that. His job, or rather internship, at the famous vogue dot com was as more of an assistant/secretary. He did coffee runs, small consultations with his boss who absolutely adored him, and numerous other things for the office. When he had applied, he had strongly anticipated a Miranda Priestly type of woman, but Isabelle Wright was quite simply a fairy godmother straight out of a Disney movie.

She had been the one who had seen Kurt's work for his sophomore year fashion collection and she was the one who had recommended him to her boss for this fashion run. Kurt hadn't thought in a million years would he actually be getting the chance to impress people through not only Vogue's website but the magazine as well. He felt on top of the world and as he straightened the collar on a fitted and modestly designed pant suit, he felt someone walking over to him.

He turned, subconsciously touching his coif to make sure that his appearance had stayed as fashion forward as he wanted it to. Isabelle was approaching him with a portfolio and Kurt was pretty sure he knew what was coming. Isabelle had told him that someday soon the photographer that Kurt would be working with closely would be coming. The shoot wasn't for a couple of weeks, but this photographer wanted to 'feel' out what was happening before taking the pictures and had volunteered his time not taking those photographs for free.

"Kurt," Isabelle smiled proudly as she handed him the portfolio which had written on the side 'Blaine Devon Anderson - Photographer - Portfolio Copy'. Kurt realized that this was the first time that he was learning the photographer's name, somehow it sounded attractive, but then couldn't there be some complete douche's called Blaine as well. He should never get caught on a name. "I'm so glad I've caught you, There's been a rescheduling for Blaine and he's coming in today to talk with you about the designs, I just wanted to brief you before you meet him."

Kurt paused, he nodded softly and waited, "I'm really interested in knowing who he is."

Isabelle smiled, "Blaine is from one of the wealthiest Upper East Side families. He's twenty one and a few months older than you. He attends Columbia University where he has a double major of psychology and photography."

"Very diverse," Kurt joked as he held the portfolio to his chest.

Isabelle nodded, "Don't worry though, he's a total sweetheart. He's shot for different fashion magazines, but my boss wants him to sign an exclusive contract for Vogue so maybe talk him into it. His work is spectacular and even though he has a trust fund with a value that I could even dream of matching, he's a philanthropist who does volunteer work on the side. He'll be arriving this afternoon and I just wanted to let you know to try to accommodate him, my boss would get so angry if she found out he quit."

Kurt nodded, he needed to take all of this in, _especially _if it was that important to the future of the company.

"Now, I know it might be a lot to ask, but could you take your lunch break now, you'll only be twenty minutes early and I'll put the clothing rack into my office. I need you to look through this entire portfolio in case my boss comes in and decides to test you," Isabelle said and Kurt noticed the panic in her voice.

He owed her a lot already, looking through some photos for an hour wouldn't take that long.

He smiled, "Of course Isabelle, I promise not to let you down," he smiled as he picked up his shoulder bag and tucked the portfolio inside. He just needed to sit down at that small cafe that he frequently had lunch at and ponder over this book for a while. He gave Isabelle a small wave before heading out of the office, down the elevator, and out of the lobby. It was as he was climbing down the steps that he noticed a fashionable man pacing back and forth on the sidewalk at the bottom of the stairs.

Kurt took a moment to breathe, the man was absolutely stunning. He was wearing a red polo shirt and a pair of designer jeans, Kurt recognized them from a fashion catalogue he often read, Pierre Balmain's fashion house was responsible for the tightness and, Kurt had to admit, sexiness of this man.

His natural appearance seemed quite rugged but still very attractive. He had curly hair which was styled well and a heavy beard. Kurt usually didn't like beards, but this one softened the man's face giving him a more mature look.

"Hi," Kurt suddenly said as the man looked at him, "What are you? I mean," he mentally slapped himself for that slip of the tongue, "I mean, who are you?"

The man looked at him, he took a breath in and smiled in a very sweet way as Kurt was brought into the honey-amber shade of his eyes. "Oh, I was supposed to meet with someone here, I arrived hours early again and still have to think whether I want to go in or if it's worth going somewhere in New York."

Kurt nodded slowly, he was about to speak but the other man beat him to it.

Offering his hand, the man opposite him smiled in such a genuine and caring way that Kurt's heart started to betray him and he could hear the thumping. "I'm sorry, my name's Blaine by the way."

Kurt's eyes widened, so this was Blaine Anderson, this was the guy he was going to be working with, Kurt suddenly felt thrilled for the opportunity. Holding out his own hand he smiled weakly and before realizing his mouth was open let out the word, "Kurt."

**Done with Chapter**

**I really hope you liked it, it would mean the world to me to get some comments on it. Let me know what you're interested for, longer chapters, specific scenes, additional characters. Thank you for reading, ~Fae**


	2. Chapter 2 - A Home Away from Home

**AN: **Wow, I really haven't updated this in a while and I think my writing style has changed since I first published this. I hope that maybe some readers have returned and I've been able to attract some new ones, so thank you very much for reading.

Chapter Two: Home Away From Home

"Ah," Blaine grinned as he shook Kurt's hand, "It's very nice to meet you, Kurt" he said respectfully. He looked into Kurt's gorgeous, glass eyes and the fashion designer was surprised to see him blush. Had Kurt really done something that impressive, looking back at Blaine it really seemed that _Blaine_ was the one who was gorgeous despite the beard.

"I'll say likewise once I see the work you've done," Kurt joked as Blaine tensed.

"Of course," he nodded quickly, he looked around, "Did you want to do that here? Or, I'm so sorry, you were on your way out somewhere, maybe we should go there," he said quickly as Kurt looked at him puzzled.

Blaine definitely seemed nervous. He wasn't what Kurt was expecting as he heard the description of him.

Kurt shrugged, "Only to a coffee shop, I was going to take a quick look through your portfolio before I met with you to see if there was anything specific I wanted to ask. It would be nice to have company though, especially if I have any questions regarding your work," he added as he lifted the portfolio and tapped on it. "I mean, maybe you have shot some completely inappropriate things," he teased.

"I promise there's nothing creepy or erotic in there," Blaine grinned back. "Coffee sounds great, but what do you think of a diner around here? I'd love to take you out for a proper meal. You can't survive on coffee," he chuckled as he rubbed the back of his shoulder.

"You obviously haven't met me," Kurt replied as Blaine laughed more.

Blaine had such a beautiful laugh and Kurt was so taken in by it, the beauty and lightness of the laugh impressed him. Kurt only hoped that the portfolio impressed him just as much, right now there was nobody he wanted to work with more than this man in front of him.

"Obviously," Blaine nodded, "but would that be okay, me taking you out to lunch?"

"I suppose," Kurt smiled as he looked up and moved his body side to side playfully. He looked around, "So, I'll follow you whilst you tell me some more about yourself."

Blaine chuckled again and Kurt was definitely falling in love with this laugh, "More?" he asked, "How much do you already know?"

"First thing I know is that you're a photographer," Kurt said as he followed Blaine down the street. He wanted to kick himself, all he could think of was taking Blaine's hand and walking down these streets as if they were a couple. No, that really would be bad, if he just grabbed Blaine's hand. Maybe though they would work together and he could flirt. Kurt was really impressed by his flirting, it made up for his more unique look.

"Well, that's a given since it's the reason we're meeting," Blaine said before looking back at Kurt, "I can carry the portfolio if you want, I really don't mind and you're the one who's employing me, it's only good manners to not inconvenience the man who is to hire you."

Kurt rolled his eyes before passing Blaine the folder. "I know that you're a student at Columbia who has a double major of psychology and photography, which is very interesting."

"How so?" Blaine questioned as they waited for the street lights to allow them to pass.

"It makes me think that you were looking at majors and you just decided that P was an unusual letter so you wanted to see what was there and never left," Kurt smirked teasingly as Blaine laughed again. "I mean was paleontology not on the page you were looking at?"

"Believe it or not, I looked through that entire catalogue," Blaine replied as Kurt nodded with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course you did, of course," he said as if he had just uncovered a lie that Blaine was telling the world.

"I did!" Blaine looked around the street as if trying to locate something, he then pointed across the street to where a small and not very obvious diner was. Kurt must have walked these streets multiple times and he had never noticed that restaurant before. It was amazing what you missed in life if you didn't look closely enough.

"So, you're from a rich family so you must have had a privileged life,"

Blaine turned as Kurt said that and looked down sadly, that was true but it wasn't the kind of rich lifestyle that was most important. There was a lot missing from his family history, some of them incredibly important.

"Economically speaking," Blaine nodded.

"Isn't that the most important thing to living a life in luxury," Kurt commented as Blaine sighed. He didn't know how to say it, but that most definitely wasn't true. He didn't have what he wanted in life, he didn't have a family who cared, he didn't have a life where he felt love other than from his older brother who had always been caught up in his own projects. In fact this life that was lacking love was what made him want to pick psychology as his second major.

"And?" Blaine asked as they crossed the street so they could reach the diner that Blaine had picked out.

"Just that you're a few months older than me and are twenty-one."

"Okay, so that's just the basics," Blaine smiled, "but I wouldn't want to ruin any preconceived ideas of me, well not until you have officially promised me the opportunity to work with you on your project. I want to work with someone with a lot of passion, unless I am very much mistaken that means you."

"Ideas can be changed and you have definitely made a good first impression on me," Kurt grinned. He entered the diner as Blaine held the door open for him. He looked around, this place actually seemed to have a good number of diners inside of it. The business didn't look particularly special on the outside, but it seemed to have brought so many people. That definitely raised his expectations.

"Blaine!" the chef smiled as the two of them entered the diner, "It's been too long."

"I was here two weeks ago, Antonio," Blaine called back. He looked at Kurt to try to see what his reaction would be, the next words the forty year old chef said turned Blaine's cheeks red.

"You finally brought a nice boy to see me," Antonio laughed as Blaine rolled his eyes, ""I'll make you a milkshake to share."

Blaine slapped a hand to his forehead, "Business associate Antonio," he called out, "Well at least I hope so."

"Blaine, Blaine, Blaine," Antonio shook his head, "Why are you so focused on being the death of me. Why do you not bring to me a nice boyfriend, a lovely guy who I can spoil."

Blaine rolled his eyes, "I haven't dated in over a year, Antonio," Blaine tried to remind him before showing Kurt to a booth as Kurt looked around confused and a little embarrassed. He hoped that the people who were eating here hadn't formed a bad, or worse prejudiced, view against them. He was supposed to be here for work and he didn't want people to attack him because of his sexuality, that wasn't what he had signed up for.

"So, where is this place?" Kurt asked looking around, "Was that an uncle or something?"

Blaine looked down as he passed Kurt a menu that he had managed to grab before sitting down, "He's not my uncle," he said quickly as Antonio brought Kurt water and Blaine a caramel drip.

"So you're not related?" Kurt asked surprised.

Blaine sighed as he put his portfolio on the seat next to him.

"I guess," he said nervously, "You could call this place my home away from home."


End file.
